


Pieces Lost, Pieces Found

by horatiofrog



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Clay Jensen (mentioned) - Freeform, Found Family, Gen, Lainie Jensen (mentioned) - Freeform, Questions, are there ever any good answers?, discussions, worried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-02 18:15:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20811479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horatiofrog/pseuds/horatiofrog
Summary: Justin and Matt have a conversation after Clay's arrest.





	Pieces Lost, Pieces Found

The dark wrapped over the backyard like a thick blanket, leaving only enough of a hole in the cloudy fabric that was the sky for a sliver of moonlight to shine through. Small particles of silvery luminescence wafted towards the Jensen’s back porch, where the newest member of the family had hidden himself after leaving the kitchen table. It didn’t seem right to Justin to be eating dinner with his almost-parents while his soon-to-be brother was trapped in county lockup.

“Not very hungry, huh?” a voice said, making its way towards Justin’s outdoor sanctuary. Justin’s eyes never moved from the worn, fraying boards that made up the small platform on which he sat. A figure sat down next to him, and Justin sighed.

“No. And being in the Outhouse without Clay…” the teenager shook his head. “It…it doesn’t feel right.”

“I bet.” Matt Jensen sighed, letting the white wisps of steam escape slowly as he exhaled.

Justin looked at his foster father. “Matt, Clay didn’t do this. I _know_ he didn’t!”

“I know.” Matt bit his lip. “You don’t have _any_ idea who might have?”

“That’s the problem. I can think of a _lot_ of people who might have wanted to kill Bryce.”

Matt chuffed a little. “Hell, at one point _I_ wanted to kill the kid, I think.” At Justin’s confused look, he continued. “When Clay made that tape…”

“Oh.” Justin shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. It’s a wonder Clay could stand up, after. I mean, I heard that tape, once Clay leaked them. I can only imagine what he looked like the next morning.”

“Oh, it wasn't good. That next night we were at Mercy Hospital trying to figure out just how many of Clay’s injuries were bleeding internally.” Matt shook his head. “Clay tried to brush it off, but kidney injuries aren’t anything to take lightly. And that’s what puzzles me.” He looked at Justin. “I heard about what happened at the Homecoming game. Even my students were talking about it. I know Clay was involved, Justin.”

Justin swallowed hard. “Yeah,” he said after a long, uncomfortable pause. “He was.”

“He went after the Walker kid, didn’t he?”

A stiff nod. “Yeah. But Clay didn’t really do anything. I mean, he _couldn’t._”

“Apparently, the sheriff’s department thinks otherwise.”

“No, Matt, I mean…Clay wasn’t any match for Bryce. Not a chance. The best he could do was climb on Bryce’s back and slow him down, maybe throw one lucky punch. It…it wasn’t a contest.” Justin sighed. “You never saw them standing next to each other. Bryce was at least a head taller, and about fifty pounds of muscle heavier than Clay. There’s a reason Clay had internal bleeding after he made that tape, Matt.”

“That’s what I thought,” the elder Jensen said. Nervous fingers drummed a tuneless pattern on the worn wooden boards he sat on. He sighed again. “Then how do they think he was able to…”

Justin shrugged. “Fucked if I know.” He glanced at the older man. “Sorry.”

“No. It is fucked up. I suppose the worst kept secret in this town is the fact that Clay hated this kid. I guess…I guess I didn’t realize just how much, I suppose?”

“Matt, Clay wasn’t the only one who hated him. I mean…Bryce pissed off _a lot_ of people. Broke a lot of people.” Justin fidgeted uncomfortably as he sat. “Hell, Bryce even broke me. I thought…well, I guess I thought wrong about him, all those years.” The teenager swallowed. “Clay’s probably scared shitless right now.” Justin watched as tendrils of worry and fear played against his foster father’s face. “I mean, he’s probably okay…”

“It’s the stories you hear, I think, that are the most disconcerting right now,” Matt admitted. He sighed. “Years back, when I was in college, I had a friend that was arrested for suspicion of armed robbery.”

“Did he do it?”

“No. As it turned out, the real culprit happened to look quite a bit like him, and it so happened that they had gone to the same corner store about an hour apart. The poor clerk couldn’t remember what time it was when everything happened, and it was a mass of confusion.”

“Wait – they didn’t just check the timestamps on the video? Or were they too cheap to have cameras?” Justin asked.

“This was before cameras were commonplace. A timestamp was unheard of. In any case, my friend remembered being searched, being fingerprinted, taking his mug shot, all of it. What had scared him the most was that night in the cell – being alone, locked up, accused of doing something he hadn’t, and no one believed him.”

“I guess…I guess I didn’t have that,” Justin admitted. “I mean, I did all that too, in juvie, but…” He shrugged. “I had done what they accused me of. And I hated myself for it. I still do. What scared me was what I knew would come after.”

“Which was?”

“Staying out of someone’s sights. I needed to keep my head down, stay quiet. Even in juvie, there’s one of those things – y’know, pecking order?”

“Hierarchy.” Matt gave his second son a small smile.

“Yeah, that.” Justin’s eyebrows raised a little. “Even so, going in for murder is better than going in for rape. I was scared people would figure out that’s why I was locked up.”

“Even as an accessory? I mean, surely…”

“Well, I never wanted to find out. When people asked what I was in for, I tried to avoid the question. Or I said it was a dope bust. People bought that, so…”

Matt nodded, then sat up, putting his hands on his knees as he straightened his back out. “That makes me feel a little better, I guess.”

“What, that Clay won’t get messed with?”

“Yes. It’s a frightening thing, to know your child is someplace where you can’t help them.” Matt looked at Justin, who turned his head towards him. “It’s actually not any easier this time around, you know.”

It took Justin a minute to piece together what the older man was telling him. “But…I mean, I wasn’t your child then. I’m still not…”

Matt reached over and put an arm around Justin’s shoulder. He flinched a little at the motion, but accepted the gesture. The teen still wasn’t quite used to someone like Matt Jensen, who talked rather than resorted to violence. It was a difference he was warming up to. A small flutter of warmth coursed through Justin’s being, and he found he liked it. “Kid, the minute I found you in Clay’s room I knew there was something about you. The more we learned, the more you became mine. I know Lainie talked to you about the delay in the adoption paperwork…”

“Yeah, she mentioned it.”

“Good. Because it goes for me as well.” Matt paused, and Justin could see him searching for the right words. “It’s as though the second child we always wanted found its way home to us, after all. And _you_ were that child. I’m just sorry we couldn’t have been there sooner for you.”

Tears were slowly making their way down Justin’s face. “There’s gotta be a way we can get Clay home,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “There’s just…there’s gotta be something we’re missing.” A thought occurred to the teen. “Matt, about your friend…I mean, how did he get off?”

“Believe it or not, fingerprints. They tried to match it to the recovered items that were stolen, and to the gun used in the robbery. No match. It took about two weeks, and my friend got bail, so he only spent the one night in jail. When they did arrest the real culprit, even the police remarked at how much that guy looked like my friend. Last I heard, my friend was doing social work outside of San Francisco.”

“Well, those won’t help here. That’s what put Clay _in_ jail.”

“I know. Still, like you said, there has to be something we’re missing…” 

“Yeah. Something.” Justin yawned. “Hey, do you mind if I crash on the couch tonight? I mean, it’s kinda weird already, not having Clay here…”

“No. I’m pretty sure you remember where the extra blankets are.” Matt stood up and started for the house, Justin mirroring him. “Just try not to scare Lainie in the morning, all right?”

Justin smiled. “I won’t.”


End file.
